Pride and Muggle Prejudice
by Eden's Witness
Summary: 1978: The Wizarding world is waking up to the reality of Lord Voldemort some quicker than others. Lily and James struggle through Seventh Year with all the signs of war on the horizon. Aiming for canon -- will update weekly. L/J
1. Chapter 1: Message in an Owl

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc. located within this story.

Chapter 1: Message in an Owl

Lily felt the warm sunshine on her face and fluttered open her eyes to another morning in Spinner's End. It also could have been the totally unnecessary stomping of Petunia's feet, slamming of bathroom cabinets and shrill shouting across the house that woke her up, but Lily tried to be optimistic. It was far too early for one of Pet's temper tantrums. To make matters worse, her head was pounding from lack of sleep. Lily shook her head quickly, dismissing any further thought on the matter. No, it was also not a good idea to go down that train of thought this early in the morning.

Sounds, images, she had so little recollection from the dream. But she knew that at least once a week she would wake up in a panic. The first time it happened Lily had run into her parents' room to make sure they were OK, trying desperately not to wake them and frighten them out of their minds. She'd even poked her head into Petunia's room to see if she was all right. It was all so silly, but at the same time so very real.

Tonight was easier to handle. Lily listened to the leaves rustle outside her window, trying to ground herself in the present. It was just a bad dream.

Suddenly, Petunia poked her head into the bedroom. She looked around the messy quarters with disdain until her eyes found the object in question. "Oh Lily, you're awake."

"You know, it's a wonder I sleep at all through your hallway parade."

"Don't think it wasn't intentional," she declared smugly. "Company will be here soon and well, you know the rules." She glanced over at her vanity mirror with disgust and left the room.

Lily's eyes followed Petunia's gaze to the vanity mirror across the room. It was surrounded by moving pictures of her friends from school. She smiled, and crossed the room, pulling one of the whole group off the mirror. It had been taken on this brilliant sunny day by the lake, where the girls had spent the afternoon tanning and discussing O.W.L.s. That was until they were rudely interrupted by Potter and his damn friends. That was the day Lily realized that her whole world was about to change. She dropped the photo into a shoebox and began pulling the other's off quickly.

The "Muggle Makeover," as Lily lovingly called her tradition, entailed pulling all magical photos off her mirror and packing up school robes. She replaced books like "Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them" with "A Royal History of England" and took down the poster that Gwen had given her for Christmas in their Fifth Year of the Caerphilly Catapults. Lily never really unpacked trinkets when she got home, so the process went by rather quickly. There were only a few books left to pack when she heard a knock on the door.

"Lily dear," her mother called from the other side.

"Yeah Mum?" Mrs. Evans slowly opened the door and looked over her youngest daughter. Over the past summer she'd gotten considerably thinner, and dark circles had become a permanent fixture beneath her stunning green eyes.

"Just wanted to check in, see how everything is going."

"Oh, I'm almost done."

She paused, not sure how to begin. "I just appreciate that you understand," but Lily cut her off.

"It's really not a big deal."

"Alright, well you know we love you dear. We just don't know," at this Lily laughed.

"How to explain me? Don't let it bother you Mum, I know it's difficult." She smiled reassuringly at her mother's downcast eyes.

The hands of the wall clock spun too quickly to one o'clock, but at that precise moment, Lily could hear three short knocks on the front door. She frowned inwardly and braced herself.

"Lily! Please come down here!" her mother called up the stairs.

"Coming!" she called after. But at _that _precise moment she heard another short three knocks. That was certainly unexpected. Lily quickly looked over the her window and saw barn owl flapping furiously at the frame, tapping the glass pane with its beak, and making an obnoxious effort to be noticed. She groaned quietly and shouted "just one second!" to her family.

Lily grabbed a biscuit from her secret stash of junk food and hurried to the window sill. If she could just get the bird to give her the letter and fly away quickly then she could be downstairs in five minutes and no one would ever know he was there. She slowly undid the latch held out the biscuit as she opened the window. The barn owl flew through the window with force, knocked over a lamp and completely ignored Lily's cries.

"Shit! Come here! Come on!" She whispered angrily.

"Lily, is there something wrong?" her mother called.

"No Mom, just drying my hair," she said, quickly turning on the hair dryer on her vanity. This frightened the owl even more and it began flapping about the room, absolutely crazed.

"You have got to be kidding me," Lily cursed under her breath. At this point, the owl had knocked several books her shelf and feathers lay strewn about the room. Finally, she turned off the hair dryer and the owl calmed down enough to perch on her arm and hand her a letter. Unfortunately, Lily's grandmother chose that moment to open the door. She promptly fainted.

"LILY!" Her mother yelled, "what is the meaning of this?" Petunia ran over excitedly to see what all the commotion was about.

"Oh my god," she scoffed. "Uh, you really are a freak. You can't even pretend to be normal, not even for five minutes."

"Petunia, I will have none of that." Mrs. Evans asserted quickly, though she was still in shock. "Robert, will you please help me with my mother? Lily, you could have given her a heart attack! I don't know what to do with you. I mean, I try Lily. I really do try. But you always have to make things so difficult." She was interrupted by her husband rushing into the room.

"What happened?" He asked staring at his mother-in-law. His eyes found Lily. Her face had paled as she stared at her grandmother and then at the letter "oh dear Lily, are you ok? What's going on?"

"I don't know," she meekly whispered.

"Oh Dad, please-" Petunia began.

"Petunia!" Her mother shouted, taking control. "Robert, Lily is fine. She's just startled. Now will you please take my mother down to the sofa?" Lily continued to stare at the letter. She urged herself to reread its contents over and over while her mother continued on in some high-pitched speech about what how she should have known better. Lily could not pull her attention away from the letter.

"Mom," she whispered softly.

"What is it Lily?" she huffed impatiently.

"It's a letter from Professor Dumbledore," she whispered, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her mother noticed and instantly softened her face.

"Petunia, can you please leave the room?" she whispered calmly. "Lily, what is it dear?"

"I have to leave." Lily whispered urgently. She quickly began to collect her thoughts, hurriedly collected the newspaper clippings from the ground, and pulled herself together. "I just um…have to go back to school. I'm Head Girl this year, you know, and something has gone terribly wrong. I need to go back to school."

Her mother smiled and said, "can't the Professors handle it?"

"Yeah, I don't know," Lily brushed off quickly, "I just need to go." She looked at her daughter skeptically.

"Sweetheart, I'm sure they'll be fine without you. It's your last two weeks of summer, after all. I don't want them to take advantage of you," she asserted calmly.

"MOTHER!" Lily started letting her anxiety get the better of her, "Professor Dumbledore is not taking advantage of me. The Head Girl position is a huge honor, not that I need to explain any of that to you. And right now I have a responsibility. This is important!" The lies kept coming, but they weren't working. "You have no idea what my life is like or who I am, so don't pretend to." At that her mother's eyes fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly. "I'll just leave you to pack I suppose." As the door closed, Lily fell back onto her bed and let the tears flow freely. She reread Professor Dumbledore's letter over and over again.

_Ms. Evans,_

_I apologize for this informality, but we do not have much time. You and your family are in grave danger. To save them and yourself, you will need to leave Spinner's End. I have arranged for a safe haven to lodge you until the start of the semester. I will pick you up tomorrow at 8:00 pm._

_Professor Albus Dumbledore_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_


	2. Chapter 2: The Count of Bethabara

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, or Hogwarts-esque lingo.

Chapter 2: Bethabara

The next day came too soon. Lily had yet to assess the risk of performing a memory spell on her grandmother. It's difficult to gage the strength of a spell and how much it will wear on the object. So, she'd spent most of the night explaining how an owl had gotten into her room. After the air had cleared, Lily had insisted that they spend the night talking and playing cards. And though Mrs. Evans duly noted that Lily's eyes brimmed with teardrops all evening, she could also see happiness flickering off the flames in the fireplace. It was now Sunday evening though, and almost time to leave.

"So, when do you think you'll be back?" Petunia asked calmly from the couch, looking down at her fingernails. Lily's eyes shifted from the clock on the wall, to stare into Petunia's face.

"I don't know. I am going to miss you Petunia," she said calmly. "Surprising, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes and shifted uncomfortably on the couch. When Lily's found the clock again, however, Petunia began to stare at her sister.

"Well, I hope your school is OK," she offered. "It's good of you to go to help." And there it was again, the softened tone that reminded Lily of playgrounds and the little mermaid. She must have held Petunia's gaze for a solid minute before she spoke.

"I don't want to go," she whispered almost inaudibly. Her father rushed into the room.

"It's almost 8:00, your Professor should be here soon," he said, smiling down at her. "Ah, but first! Take a little extra money. I don't imagine you'll have much time before classes start. Perhaps you can buy things in Hogmeades." Lily took the money gratefully and nodded, but when she looked back at her sister, Petunia's eyes had hardened. She sank into silence. As always, Dumbledore had impeccable timing, and they left promptly at 8:00.

"Professor, may I ask where we are going?" Lily asked as they got out of eyesight of her house. He ignored her question.

"This is the home of Severus Snape, is it not?" he asked Lily calmly. She looked up at the weathered side paneling that framed dirty windows, examined the dead bushes that lined a broken path to an unused driveway. Real estate agents would say that brought down the price of houses on the whole block, but to Lily it brought millions of memories. She thought back to the hours that she and Severus had spent lying behind the mulberry bushes after Petunia had screamed "I wish you had never been born." Or the day that they had gotten their Hogwarts letters and had played "wizard" for hours in the backyard. It was all still so real.

"Yes," she began to frown, "what does this have to do with Severus?" Again, Professor Dumbledore ignored her question.

_"Lumos," _he whispered, igniting light from the tip of his wand. Lily stayed quiet, even if her mind were running a mile a minute. What were they doing in front of Severus's house? Was he in danger as well? And why did the Professor knowingly perform a simple magic trick on a quiet street? She continued to stare at his face until she saw a calm smile grace the corners of his mouth. "We are ready to go now Lily. Take my hand."

_CRACK._

Lily looked around her at what could only be described as a country manor. The estate grounds were expansive. She could see a beautiful grove of towering oak trees in the distance, nearly shielding from view a set of three golden hoops. The sun setting over the moors cast an orange glow over the ahslar stone and reflected light in the windows. It was breathtaking.

"Professor," Lily began hesitantly. "What is this place?"

"We are now in the moors outside of Derbyshire, quite near Hathersage, I believe," he responded, smiling warmly. "Lily, this is Bethabara."

"Oi, Lily!" Lily turned to her left to see Dromeda Black running up from the lake.

"Dromeda Black! Oh my heavens!" Lily was even more confused. Dromeda had been Head Girl when Lily was a First Year, and a member of the Ravenclaw House.

"It's Dromeda Tonks now, thank you very much," she laughed, beaming at the lake and her husband sitting next to it. "A lot has changed for me since Hogwarts."

"I guess so," Lily commented, noting how happy Andromeda seemed. She wrapped her arms around herself, pulling her large green cardigan close. "So," But Dumbledore cut her off.

"Why don't we get you settled inside." He picked up one of her suitcases. Andromeda followed suit and they began walking toward the house. "After you get unpacked into one of the guest rooms, feel free to change into something more comfortable and meet us downstairs." Dromeda said politely. Dumbledore also took his leave before explaining anything.

Although it had been one of the worst days of Lily's life, she couldn't help but act like a kid in the nicest hotel in the country. Her mouth fell agape far too often. There were five guest rooms to choose from. One of them was obviously a boy's bedroom, but she couldn't fathom whose. It looked he had practically lived there at one point or another. Another clearly belonged to Andromeda and her husband, though Lily noticed it was quite messy. She fell in love with the third bedroom. It had a beautifully ornate vanity, mahogany furnishings and an entire wall of books.

Lily eventually descended the stairs to see the Tonks family sprawled out in the living room. They had a daughter, probably five or six years old. "Lily," Dromeda called, "are you comfortable dear?"

"Yes," Lily replied uneasily.

"OK, if you need anything then we can go into Hathersage tomorrow. Please come in and sit down. I would like you to meet my family."

"Lily, I'm so glad you made it," the man said, standing up and walking over to them. "My name is Ted, can I get you something to eat or drink?"

"Oh no Ted, I'm quite fine thank you," Lily tried to keep her voice and steps small as she approached the luxurious couch facing the fireplace, which was alight with warmth.

"Daddy, you never ask me if I'm hungry!" the little girl pouted from the floor. He rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Alright then dear." Before continuing he shot a warm smile in Lily's direction. Dromeda picked up something that looked a bit like a telephone, but did not have a cord attached. "Betram, hi yes. Yes, she's here. Please bring in some pumpkin pastries and tea? OK Great. See you soon." As she put the phone down, something caught Lily's eye. The little girl's hair began to change color to a pale pink, she giggled and then poked her nose. Lily gasped. The little girl's nose changed into a pig nose. Lily looked up at Dromeda in horror, but the couple only stared lovingly at their daughter.

"Congratulations," Lily commented. "She's quite young to have her first magic." Dromeda giggled and smiled up at Lily.

"Oh dear, this is my daughter Nymphadora. She's a Metamorphmagus."

"She's beautiful, oh and thank you so much for hosting me in your home." Lily added politely. Dromeda laughed again.

"Lily, we're on the run as well. Ted is a muggleborn, and my family was not too pleased when we got married," she hesitated to continue. "Dumbledore suspects that my sister Bellatrix has joined his ranks, and well, I would on the top of her hit list. James Potter and my cousin Sirius saved our lives. James arranged for his family to convert their country house into a safe haven for people being targeted. I don't know what we'd do without them."

Thoughts again began to race through Lily's mind. This was James's home. His family had arranged for her to stay here. But more importantly, who was "he" and why were his ranks targeting Lily and Dromeda's family?

"I'm sorry," Lily asked, "but I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about." Her eyes met Dromeda's stone cold stare.

"We have much to discuss."


	3. Chapter 3: No Country for Muggleborns

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, settings, etc. found in the following…

Chapter 3: No Country for Muggleborns

Nymphadora had gone down for her nap and Ted had left early that morning for a meeting of what Lily had perceived as a resistance from her few encounters with Ted and his friends. Dromeda knocked slowly on her bedroom door, because even though Lily had been awake for a couple of hours, she hadn't yet left her bedroom. She'd contented to sift through the rows and rows of books, noting that some of them in fact were muggle novels, and wondering if anyone had ever taken the time to read all of them. When Dromeda opened the door though, it was like her muscles solidified, she could barely turn to face her.

"Lily." She smiled warmly down at Lily's stiffened form. "I should have known you'd go straight for the books. I caught you quite a few times after hours in the library if I recall correctly."

"Dromeda, what's going on?" She had decided the night before that there was no need to stay here and be taken care of longer than necessary. Once Dromeda gave her all the facts, then she could figure out a plan. It was quite possible that she could stay at Gwen's or Marianne's or Emmeline's even Patrick's or the Prewett's. She'd also considered getting a room at the Leaky Cauldron until school started. Her father had given her some money for school supplies that she supposed she might be able to spare some of. Lily was too lost in thought to notice the change in Dromeda's eyes.

"Well, I knew we'd have to do this." She ran her hair and sat down on the edge of the bed facing the wall and closed her eyes. "You're sure you don't just want to take my word that you should stay here?"

"No, I'd very much like to know what's going on."

"Thought as much." She paused and turned to face her, eyes boring into hers.

"Dromeda, I feel awful about coming here, you and Ted have to babysit me! Honestly, I miss my family! I just feel like someone ought to tell me what's going on. It's not fair, for me or for you."

"Lily," she paused again. "There is a growing movement; I guess that's what you would call it. And there are all these attacks. People are attacking muggleborns. Dumbledore just wanted to keep you safe and happy. He told me not to tell you everything."

"He did?" she asked incredulously. "I think I have a right to know. I mean, aren't I the one who will have to defend myself against these people? I think I should at least know what I'm up against." Her tone and voice escalated as she spoke, forgetting her manners.

"Dumbledore thinks he can keep you safe until you graduate Hogwarts."

"Well, he has no right." Lily was shaking. He noticed and stopped, looking down at the cream colored bedspread.

"Lord Voldemort."

"What?" she responded incredulously.

"That's what he calls himself. He has been gathering a following, slowly of course, but steadily. And he's not just recruiting witches and wizards either. Ted predicts that he's after the werewolves, the giants, perhaps even the trolls. He'll go after vampires and elves, anyone who has felt slighted by the wizarding world." Lily cut her off.

"So he's some sort of revolutionary?" Dromeda laughed quietly and shook her head.

"He'd like people to believe that, yeah. But he's not doing this for them. I doubt he's even doing this to eradicate muggleborns from the world, but that is what he is telling wizards. I don't have to tell you that there are plenty of people who will back him."

"Well then…"

"He's doing it for power. I betcha he's got all these grand allusions about living forever and being the most powerful wizard of all time. Real Qin Shi Huang stuff."

"Who?"

"Ancient Chinese Emperor of Magic, enslaved Muggles to build some giant wall, looked for eternal life. Try to keep up Lily dear." She was barely listening.

"Dromeda, you said he wants to eradicate muggleborns. What did you mean?"

She swallowed and looked her in the eyes. "He and his followers, Death Easters they call themselves, they're killing people left and right. They go after muggleborns most of the time, but they'll kill anyone who opposes them. The Unforgivable Curses are practically their signature. They attacked my house while Ted and I had taken Nymphadora to the park. We came home and everything was in ruins. We had nowhere to go," Dromeda said through tears.

"How did I not know about this?" Lily asked impatiently.

"The Ministry is only now starting to act on it. You know how government works, no one wants to tell the Minister he is screwing up. And the Minister does not want to admit that he doesn't have control. It's all politics." Lily nodded and tried to process this information.

"Do you think he'll attack my parents?" she whispered.

"I'm not going to lie to you, it's possible. But they are much less likely to be targeted if you aren't there."

"But they wouldn't, not in a Muggle neighborhood"

"Lily, why do you think Dumbledore sent you that letter? I'm sure someone in the Order overheard something about your hometown. It wouldn't be the first time they attacked a Muggle village either. They delight in torturing Muggles before they descend on their prey."

"What's the Order?" Dromeda froze, she had hoped Lily wouldn't latch onto that particular piece of information the moment she mistakenly revealed it.

"That I can't tell you just yet, but you should know that while the Ministry won't do anything, there are some people who will. Sometimes the Wizarding world makes me sick. The signs are all there, and yet so many people refuse to acknowledge them. And if they do, they think it's Ministry business. People are dying and the world is sitting by to watch."

"But there are people who are doing something." She added uneasily.

"Yes. The Potters gave their house up as a safe haven, didn't they?"

"Are people fighting?" Lily pushed.

Dromeda swallowed, "we're trying. But, we have to flee the moment the Ministry gets wind of what's going on so we don't all get discovered, and arrested. We have to be more up to date than the Ministry, enough to make a difference. It's easier to have safe havens, but not everyone wants to give up their lives. And they shouldn't have to."

"What if I had wanted to go to a friend's?" Lily protested curiously.

"You wouldn't," Dromeda sent her a smirk. The Order had obviously given this some thought. "Your friends won't understand this Lily. Not many people do. Now, you're free to go wherever you'd like of course, but if it were me, I'd want to stay where I could get a continuous stream of information. And, I'd want to be in a place where I didn't constantly have to explain myself."

"This is ridiculous," she commented, almost laughing. "I mean, of all the places to feel safe."

"Bethabara is the best," Dromeda concluded.

Lily agreed to stay at Bethabara for the remainder of her summer vacation. She conceded that it might be nice to sort out her emotions and how she wanted to handle everything before she had to confront the problems head on, or confront people head on. She wasn't ready to face that. And it wouldn't hurt to spend time studying the Potter's fascinating library. She practically fell in love with the beautiful little girl, Nymphadora, and secretly contemplated what it would feel like when she had children of her own.

Lily couldn't help but think that the she had enjoyed her stay at Bethabara much more than anticipated as she walked down the east hall. She would be boarding the Hogwarts Express in a few short days, back to a world she knew so well and a world that barely knew her. She passed presumably James's door on her way to her bedroom and got especially curious.

She had not anticipated James's room being so warm and comfortable. He too had an enormous collection of books, but they were scattered about the room as if he had collected them for a giant research paper. The cranberry walls pulled her in further. She ran her fingers along a mahogany dresser and landed on a pile of photographs. She smiled as she leafed through them. James and his friends always looked so happy, especially when they were together. It was almost annoying how perfect the four of them seemed to fit together. Then she stumbled on a picture of herself on the last day of school from the year before.

"Oi Lily, what are you doing in here?" Dromeda asked abruptly from the door. "Oh, this is James's room then.

"Yeah, I guess so," Lily responded, shrugging. Dromeda smiled and walked over to her.

"You know, you're blushing. If I didn't know better Lily, I'd say you fancy him."

"Well it's a good thing you know better."

"Is it?" Dromeda asked, and left Lily in the room with her picture.


End file.
